[An Obscure Magic 06] • Monster Baiter

A family curse turned occupation, a merman in her tub and a mage in her phone. Soph’s life just gets weirder.

Being raised as the Cursed One does things to a person. It changes your relationships and makes you a very paranoid young woman. This is how Sophy ends up in her fourth decade, looking eighteen and having no love life.

The Mage Guild provides her with a liaison so that she can stop calling to rummage through their archives, and the voice in the machines around her becomes an admirable partner, such as he is.

He files a request with her to assist him in his own personal journey, and it takes her into the Guild Hall to face a mage who wants her as a trophy. She isn’t impressed, but gets what she needs and gets out of there.

A cursed object that calls to her is part of her plans for the next few days, but the arrival of the body that belongs to the voice throws things into chaos.

Magnus has spent years in amber, waiting to be released by a request from a woman he hasn’t slept with. He was born a warrior centuries earlier and is a legendary mage in his own right. He has one major concern, and it involves figuring out the strange pull and repulsion he feels when the Cursed One is around.

Demons, mages, old scores, and cursed objects swirl around the DeMonstre family, and Sophia is first and foremost the Monster Baiter.

Excerpt:

Sophia fished her phone out of her cleavage and made a call. “Captain Miskin? I have the highway stalker in my custody, he has been neutralized, and I am asking you to trace my phone and come and collect him.”

“Who am I talking to?”

“Sophia DeMonstre.”

She could almost hear him sitting up on the other end of the line. “Trace is happening and we are on our way.”

She left the line open and faced the kidnapper.

The teen slumped on a chair, and he was still wondering what had happened. “I don’t understand.”

“Which part? You grabbing the horn and unleashing your rage or turning back into yourself? Pick one and I will explain it.”

Sophia cocked her head and nodded to his clothing. “Get dressed. I will wait.”

He swallowed. “You said you were in college.”

“Yes.”

“How old are you? You talk a lot older.”

He got up and pulled on his sweatshirt and sneakers.

She grinned. “Oh, you don’t need to know that. Imagine that I am the same age I look. It will make you feel better.”

They sat in silence until they heard the approach of the officers.

“Who is coming for me?”

“Mage Guild. The officers will take you into custody and charge you with misuse of magic. The horn has been made useless, and once it is used in your investigation, it will be destroyed.”

He jolted. “You can’t.”

“Oh. I can. In fact, I am one of the only ones who can.” She walked him out to the mages, and they took over. The looks she got in her cheerleader outfit were close to leers, but when she pinned them with her gaze, they looked respectfully away.

She put the horn in an evidence case and took their card so she could fill out the report and send it to them in the morning.

“Ms. DeMonstre, is that your car in the road?”

“Yup.” She walked with them back to the highway with a spring in her step.

“Can we help you get it started?”

Sophia chortled and walked to her hood, removing the support rod and lowering it with a click. She tapped the hood twice, and the car roared to life.

“I have it under control, Officers, but thanks for the offer.” She climbed into her car, waved them goodnight and headed back to the office in Redbird City. She really hated commuting, but when humans became monsters, she was the DeMonstre on duty.

Her parents looked at her and laughed. Her father grinned. “The cheerleader again?”

“It rarely fails and has a wide age range for attractions. Thanks to this curse of ours, I won’t ever look my age, so why not?” She walked through the entryway and toward her change room. The sheer amount of fantasy costumes that she had sometimes embarrassed her, but the weird part was that she could wear the same

**

About the Author

Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing. An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.